literature review of vocabulary

Introduction: A Scoping Review of Second Language Vocabulary Learning in the Wild

First Online: 12 May 2023

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Barry Lee Reynolds ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3984-2059 2

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This chapter reports a scoping review of research on vocabulary learning in the wild published between January 2010 and November 2021. The aims of the review were to examine the extent of research activity and identify gaps in the existing vocabulary learning in the wild literature. Seventy-three title keywords refined by three Web of Science categories in the SSCI and ESCI databases were searched. The search yielded 257 journal articles, of which 51 met a set of inclusion criteria and were coded. First, the numerical information was used to provide an overall summary of the extent, nature, and distribution of the articles. Then, the literature was organized thematically to synthesize and summarize the articles’ aims and results. The reviewed studies investigated (incidental) vocabulary learning through engagement or the completion of activities; learner factor effects; language input factor effects; effects on variables other than vocabulary knowledge; technology and vocabulary learning; and bridging incidental and intentional vocabulary learning. However, the reviewed studies underrepresented languages other than English and learners at the pre-primary and primary levels of education. There was a paucity of studies that assessed the productive form, productive use, and receptive use aspects of vocabulary knowledge.

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The design of technology-enhanced vocabulary learning: A systematic review

Theoretical trends of research on technology and L2 vocabulary learning: A systematic review

Vocabulary Size and Strategies of English Learners in Armenia: What the Research Says

The terms learning and acquisition are used interchangeably to refer to the same construct.

L2 is used for simplicity’s sake and without the intention of suggesting a deficient or outsider perspective about language learning (Dewaele, 2017 ). Instead, the use of L2 in this chapter refers to any additional language other than one’s first language (Anderson, 2022 ).

Interested readers are encouraged to read the cited texts for in-depth discussion of these subfields of informal language learning.

It should be noted that the study aims and important results were not reinterpreted by the coders or the author. Instead, the study aims and important result(s) as reported by the primary study authors were extracted verbatim for synthesizing.

These were studies with a main focus on technology for vocabulary learning; the use of technology was more than just a medium for the delivery of language input.

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Acknowledgements

The research reported in this chapter was supported by the Education Fund of the Macau SAR (HSS-UMAC-2021-02). I would also like to thank the reviewers for providing extensive comments and feedback on earlier versions of the chapter.

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Appendix: Systematic Map of Reviewed Studies

Note *The participants were mainly Swedish speakers, **Provided by the author(s), *** = Two aspects of receptive knowledge of meaning was assessed, None = no theoretical framework was used, N.A. = the data was unavailable in the article and unable to be obtained from the authors, + = the same aspect of vocabulary knowledge was assessed using the same measurement, RD = researcher-designed measurement, SM = standardized measurement, RF = receptive knowledge of form, RM = receptive knowledge of meaning, RU = receptive knowledge of use, PF = productive knowledge of form, PM = productive knowledge of meaning, PU = productive knowledge of use, VKS = Vocabulary Knowledge Scale

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Reynolds, B.L. (2023). Introduction: A Scoping Review of Second Language Vocabulary Learning in the Wild. In: Reynolds, B.L. (eds) Vocabulary Learning in the Wild. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1490-6_1

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Academic Phrases for Writing Literature Review Section of a Research Paper

The literature review should clearly demonstrate that the author has a good knowledge of the research area. Literature review typically occupies one or two passages in the introduction section. A well-written literature review should provide a critical appraisal of previous studies related to the current research area rather than a simple summary of prior works. The author shouldn’t shy away from pointing out the shortcomings of previous works. However, criticising other’s work without any basis can weaken your paper. This is a perfect place to coin your research question and justify the need for such a study. It is also worth pointing out towards the end of the review that your study is unique and there is no direct literature addressing this issue. Add a few sentences about the significance of your research and how this will add value to the body of knowledge.

The literature review section of your research paper should include the following:

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Limitations of previous research
Research questions
Research to be explored

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2. Limitations of previous research

A number of questions regarding __ remain to be addressed. A closer look to the literature on __, however, reveals a number of gaps and shortcomings. This question has previously never been addressed because__ Most studies have relied on __ Previous studies by __ cannot be considered as conclusive because __ Previous studies have almost exclusively focused on __ This has been previously assessed only to a very limited extent because __ In the present studies __ were constrained to __ In previous studies were limited to __ Although results appear consistent with prior research, they appear inconsistent with __ These are previously unstudied because __ As far as we know, no previous research has investigated __ Moreover, although research has illuminated __ no study to date has examined __ Despite decades of research, this continues to be debated among __ This section points out some of the problems encountered in the extant research. Although there are many studies, the research in __ remains limited. However, the existing research has many problems in representing __ The literature on __ is less consistent Historically, there has been a great deal of confusion in the literature regarding __ This approach remains briefly addressed in the literature. These are rarely analyzed in the literature as __ There are key questions and notions that are still not discussed in the literature __ This is not clearly presented in the literature because __ This paper addresses the need for __, so far lacking in the scientific literature. To fill this literature gap, this paper identifies __ Only a few works in literature demonstrate __ Although studies have been conducted by many authors, this problem is still insufficiently explored. To our knowledge, no prior studies have examined __ However, the existing research has many problems in __ Therefore, important issue in the literature is __ However, we argue that previous literature suffers from certain weaknesses: __ Previous research can only be considered a first step towards a more profound understanding of __ The previous studies reveal that __ are usually the most problematic to __

3. Research questions

More specific research questions will be introduced and investigated in __ A further question is whether __ Finally, another promising line of research would be __ The study addresses several further questions on __ Some of the interesting questions in this context are __ In order to address the questions outlined above, we report here __ These questions are of central interest as much recent research in __ Furthermore, __ is arguably an important question to be addressed. The question now is how __ can be used to explain __ Study addresses the research question __ In order to properly address this question, we __ An important question associated with __ is __ A critical open question is whether __ A still unsolved question is whether __ This remains an open question as __ This question has previously never been addressed because __ This study offers a test of __ research question Study addresses the research question __ Even in general __ research strategies is needed to explain __ The researcher should be interested here in __ Many questions remain unanswered __ There are some potentially open questions about the validity of __ The question that then naturally arises is __ The question then becomes how best to define__ This was an important question to study as __

4. Research to be explored

A more systematic and theoretical analysis is required for __ As the authors note earlier, more work is necessary to__ Additional studies to understand more completely the key tenets of __ are required. The unexpected findings signal the need for additional studies to understand more about __ This paper addresses __, so far lacking in the scientific literature. A new approach is therefore needed for __ One of the tough challenges for all researchers in this domain is __

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